“To avoid loneliness, we become a single, unthinking mass” (Sarah Langan, Good Neighbors)

This quote depicts how throughout the book when everyone in Maple Street is out of their homes they leave what society deems unacceptable at the front door to conform. Sarah Langan thriller highlights the hidden animosity the ones closest to you can have. Good Neighbors emphasizes the lengths people are willing to go to for validation and community and how damaging it can all become not just for you but your family as well.

Summary:

Good Neighbors follows the Wildes family composed of Arlo Wilde, a once successful rock star who has nothing to show for his fame and is far from getting  the world’s best dad mug. Gertie, his wife, is an ex pageant queen who feels the need of the community Long Island suburbia has promised her. Unconventional preteen Julie swears enough to turn the air blue and her little brother Larry is labeled “Robot Boy” by the other neighborhood children. Their next door neighbor Rhea Schroeder, the boss of the neighborhood, extends a warm welcome to the Wildes then after one drunken evening Rhea disclosed some thoughts too soon. As loyalties shift and tension rises a sinkhole opens at the nearby park. Rhea’s daughter Shelly falls in. As the search for Shelly continues, shocking accusations are thrown at the Wildes that have grown out of proportion; it’s suddenly the Wildes against their neighbors on Maple Street.

Review:

Langan’s fast pace writing was the icing on top of a fantastic story because every few chapters were days passing by. Langan’s different POVs gives each character a story of their own and makes them feel like anyone you could know. As days passed suspense hung in the air about the sinkhole, mistrust in neighbors, elaborate lies to alienate others each chapter left you in utter disbelief. The Wildes and the Schroeder family develop in completely different ways as the book progresses secrets come out and friendships break but each family reacts differently. It’s evident that Langan took time with each character giving each their own values and voices. You perceive them as actual people and feel their sorrows and frustrations. The Wildes family is the perfect example for outsiders or how the social hierarchy can affect everyday life in life altering or sometimes unimportant ways. I feel by the end of the book you ask yourself if your own actions can have impacts you didn’t know were possible and makes you take a closer look at yourself. This book makes you rethink your values and will make you wonder “is society the problem?”

Langan’s exploration of the inner strife one faces with themselves made me conscious of how I need to take care of myself in meaningful ways and how you will never know how people truly feel about you or what they themselves are going through.

Good Neighbors is a book to read when you want commentary about social hierarchies and the effects it can have on people. A book with similar themes to Good Neighbors is Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng with  both exploring the dark side of suburbia.

I would give this book: 📚📚📚📚- an introspective that will leave you staring at a wall when finished (4/5).

Love, Kiana

GFB Ambassador